Goodbyes
by ThoughtCriminal
Summary: Takes place after BMS and before the much anticipated Pale Demon. Rachel has some stuff to take care of before she can head out on her roadtrip.


Kim posted the tentative title for her new book, and I'm playing with what we know about this up-coming road trip. So this one-shot is assuming Rachel needs to ditch Cinci for awhile and also take a short leave of absence from her weekly lessons…though Al might have something to say about that.

Sorry, it's so damn late, I WAS trying for the 200th spot hahaha

/shuffles back into dark corner to work on Roommates…

As always, I own nothing. I'm just playing with Kim's dollies.

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Goodbyes

The kitchen was too warm to be comfortable, but I didn't bother to open a window. Jenks had promised to make his kids scarce, but it had taken the better part of the evening to actually round them all up and get them the hell out of here. And an open window would just be an invitation for them to invade again. Ivy had solicitously offered to go and pick up something for dinner. She knew I needed her gone for a bit, but now I'd stalled for nearly twenty minutes, and I didn't really think she'd take all night.

The sweet warm smell of cupcakes was reassuring. I'd already tried one, just to test the recipe, but I found myself picking at another almost unintentionally. I knew I was stalling, that I should just get it over with. It wasn't like I hadn't summoned Al into my kitchen before, but part of me was expecting a really bad reaction. And sometimes I felt safer summoning him in the graveyard; it just felt appropriate. But I wanted to get on his good side, and Al always seemed amused by my kitchen. And I'm sure the cupcakes wouldn't hurt. Cause I needed all the warm fuzzies I could get from Al to make this work.

I brushed the chocolate from my fingertips irritably. It wasn't like I really thought Al would hurt me. But he sure wasn't going to be happy. Best to just suck it up and get it over with.

I drew out my summoning mirror and placed my fingers correctly over the glyphs without thought. I really did use this thing too much.

_Al?_ I asked, and felt him almost instantly. The bored, snarky, and too damn old to look as good as he did feeling of him that I'd used to pick him out of a ley line before was almost completely covered up by his interest.

_Itchy witch? _I could even "hear" his overly proper British accent. That was weird, right?

_What have you gone and done now? It's only Tuesday, why are you calling on a Tuesday? _I could feel his thoughts busily shifting; he really thought I was in trouble again and was trying to figure out just what the hell I'd done. Hell, for all I knew, Bet on the Trouble Rachel Will Get Herself into Next is a big demon sporting event.

_I know it's Tuesday. And I haven't done anything. Can you just come over? I need to talk to you about something. _I knew he could feel the worry in my thoughts, but I also knew he'd just be too damn curious to stand me up.

Before I really had a chance to notice the air pressure shift, Al was here, standing behind me, standing way too close behind me, one hand snatching a cupcake from the counter, the other curving possessively around my waist. I jumped, and Al used the motion to pull me closer to him. "And why," he purred in my ear, his hot breath on my skin making me break out in goosebumps. "do you need to speak to me so urgently, Rachel?"

"Al," I said in my own imitation of a growl, which was nothing compared to his, and he knew it, because he chuckled softly. "If you don't let go of me right now, you can't take any of the cupcakes back with you."

Al's gloved hand released me, though he slid his arm far too suggestively across my hip in the process. Oh well, I had just successfully threatened a demon with baked goods, so it was still a victory.

Al stepped back to make a show of studying me. I crossed my arms and stared back, but my glare lost because I couldn't compete with the natural creepiness of his red-slitted demon eyes.

I thought it best to get it over quickly. I readied myself to blurt it all out, but then Al tried the cupcake he had helped himself to, and his red eyes closed in bliss.

"Oh Rachel," he moaned, and it sounded like something completely different than praise for a cupcake, and I blushed. He opened his eyes, took in my blush, and grinned like the devil he was. "These are simply delicious. Little travel-sized chocolate cakes, and the dark cocoa in the frosting just adds something," he simpered, pointedly holding my gaze as he licked the frosting off with one swipe.

"I have to go out of town for awhile," I blurted out, and continued once I saw his eyes widen slightly. "I have to take a break from our lessons, I can't be jumping the lines every Friday while we're traveling." I saw his question and spoke again before he could. He didn't look pissed, yet, but still, some manic part of my mind thought if I just kept talking, he wouldn't knock me flat on my ass. "I have to be around to baby-sit Trent. He's too damn arrogant even when he's hurt. And I can't leave him alone with Ivy for any length of time. It's a rental car."

"Your elf is going too?" Al asked, surprise clear in his voice.

"Yeah, it's complicated, but Trent's going." I didn't even bother arguing that he wasn't my elf, since I knew I couldn't win that one. At least Al wasn't offering to whip him into shape for me. I don't think Trent would ever forget even the short time he had spent in the tender care of demons. I swear he still blamed me for that, even if he said he didn't. Which was just going to make this road trip all the more fun.

"So you'll have your elf and your Ivy at hand, and you'll go on your little adventure and most assuredly cause more trouble than not," Al said snidely, but I was watching him carefully. There was something in his voice, his tone.

"And I am just supposed to wait here, patiently awaiting until your unspecified return?" Al growled, the remainder of his cupcake forgotten on the counter, and his red eyes boring down into me.

Oh shit. This was worse than I thought. He was angry, sure, but that wasn't the worst of it. Al was jealous. He was jealous Trent and Ivy were going with me and that he couldn't.  
"Uh, I'll be back soon?" I added weakly, but Al wouldn't be pacified so easily. He stalked towards me, and I backed up into the counter, smacking my lower back painfully.

"I'll do a double day of lessons to make up for it?" I tired in desperation, but Al stood over me, nearly pressed against me, and I was trapped between and angry/jealous demon and my kitchen counter.

Before I could offer another lame excuse, Al raised a hand, and I couldn't help but cringe, mostly expecting a blow for what Al usually called my "impertinence". But Al's too warm and too large hand cupped my cheek carefully, and my eyes widened.

"You know I'll miss you, right Rachel?" he said softly, and I was even more freaked out. Did he mean it? I didn't think so. Knowing Al, this was some trick to get me to lower my guard, right?

"But I'll leave you something to remember me by," Al dipped his head low, his warm breath tickling my ear. His other hand drifted lazily by and caressed a slow line from my shoulder up my neck and to my face, effectively trapping me between his ungloved hands. I had to blink away a sigh, his hands were warm, large, and felt better than they should against my skin.

Al's red gaze held mine for a moment, his eyes even more unreadable than usual. But then he was moving towards me, and I couldn't back away, couldn't jerk out of his grip. And he was unmistakably moving in for a kiss…but this had to be a trick, right? Right?

His lips were softer than they should have been, and he pressed against me fully with an edge of roughness to his touch that I had to admit I kind of liked. I stood stock-still, not really sure what the hell to do yet pretty sure I'd topple over if Al didn't have such a grip on me.

The pressure in his kiss lessened, but his lips still caressed mine, and I gasped for a moment, shocked and afraid at the slight tingle of ley line energy I felt building. It was really not much, not enough for most spells, but it was there, in his lips and passing to mine like pin pricks of electricity, waking every nerve they touched. The sharpness of it made his lips softer, and I fought down a moan at the simple pleasure of it when his tongue darted out to taste my lips.

And as soon as it had happened, it was over. Now the kitchen was really too warm for comfort. His hands lowered slowly, reluctantly. I stepped away from him and he let me.

I stared up at him, trying to formulate in my scrambled head a logical sentence to convey my general confusion and pissiness. But he got there first.

"Do try and stay out trouble on your little roadtrip, hmm Rachel?" he asked, back in his usual role of haughty teacher as if he were simply putting back on a favorite coat. With a pop of displaced air, he was gone, and I was alone in my kitchen, ridiculously confused and embarrassingly more than a little turned on.

And of course, the plate of cupcakes was gone as well.

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Yay for dribble and cupcakes?

Seriously though, there is a new Al Rachel story community (Thanks Green1), and I want to fill it up with new fic fun! Could use some help though…Thundercats Go…and Ral Writers Assemble!


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